China's first big data college to provide both undergraduate and master's programs will be set up in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, a move to meet the country's future demand for talents as its big data industry develops.
The Chengdu University of Information Technology and Aliyun, Internet giant Alibaba's cloud computing subsidiary, jointly announced in Chengdu Tuesday during the 2017 Yunxi summit, one of China's largest cloud computing events, that they will work together to build the college.
The Sichuan college will be the third Alibaba big data school but the first to provide postgraduate courses to students, china.com.cn reported.
The college, which is slated to start recruitment in 2018, will cultivate 1,000 advanced talents specializing in sectors including cloud computing, big data security and artificial intelligence within next five years, according to reports.
The college is also expected to provide big data-related training to government officials, businessmen and students, including two of Alibaba's well-recognized global big data talent certification programs.
It is estimated that China will need 1.8 million big data professionals in the next 3 to 5 years, about 1.5 million more than it has now.
